Mikel Arteta knows how to get a team over the line in the tightest of title races... just ask Rangers

Rangers captain Barry Ferguson had missed twice from the spot at Dens Park three weeks earlier and, as the tightest of title races headed for final day drama, manager Alex McLeish needed to know who was taking over penalty duties.

In the changing room at Murray Park, two players stuck up their hands. One of the volunteers was Spanish youngster Mikel Arteta, who’d bailed out the distraught Ferguson at Dundee by converting Rangers’ third penalty of that remarkable match, with five minutes to go, to salvage a precious point and keep their SPL hopes alive.

The former Barcelona and PSG midfielder had shown maturity way beyond his years and treble-chasing McLeish, in his first full season as Rangers manager, was happy to hand Arteta the responsibility as the Old Firm title tussle went right down to the wire in May 2003.

That amazing championship finale featured Rangers playing Dunfermline at Ibrox and Celtic facing Kilmarnock at Rugby Park. Both were on 94 points, both had a goal difference of +68. Only goals scored could separate the dynamic duo going into that sensational Sunday. Rangers were two better off.

McLeish recalls: ‘We sorted out before every game who would take a penalty if there was one. Barry had missed a couple, despite having enjoyed an incredible goalscoring season, and that meant there were really no arguments about who was going to take on the responsibility. A couple of hands had gone up when I asked the question and Arteta’s was one of them. That was good enough for me.’

And, of course, with goals flying in at both grounds, it all came down to a late penalty at Ibrox. Three minutes into end-of-match stoppage time and the title rivals were still locked together on identical points and goal difference. The SPL pendulum had swung dramatically back and forth throughout the afternoon with both Celtic and Rangers edging into pole position.

McLeish tried to keep his team fully focused on the Ibrox action but it was impossible to ignore what was happening at Kilmarnock.

‘I heard stuff getting shouted from behind the dugout and, of course, the crowd reaction told you everything about what was happening down in Ayrshire. Barry was gesturing to me and I was asking him what he wanted. He shouted over that he was desperate to know what was going on at Rugby Park. I just told him to get on with our game, win it, score as many goals as we can and then worry about the other mob afterwards.’

Finally, with time running out in both games, Rangers had the chance to surely settle the issue. Substitute Neil McCann won the penalty. Arteta grabbed the ball and stepped forward.

‘I felt sure he would score,’ says McLeish. ‘I’m not saying it was written in the stars but the team had amazing momentum at that point. We were scoring, then getting the ball out of the net, heading back to the halfway line and looking to do the same again.

‘When Mikel stepped up, bravely, to take that penalty, I didn’t have any doubts about him. We were caught up in the moment and could see the end game. He got hold of the ball, he was very confident and I’ll never forget the finish or that iconic celebration when he was waving his hands above his head.’

It was an ice-cool spot-kick. Pars keeper Derek Stillie flew to his right, Arteta stroked the ball into the opposite corner, Ibrox erupted, then waited for the final whistle. Rangers 6-1 winners. Even at that point, the drama wasn’t over. There was an agonising wait for full-time at Rugby Park. An Ibrox steward broke the news to McLeish. Celtic had won 4-0. 97 points apiece. Rangers were champions on goal difference. One better off courtesy of Arteta’s late, late penalty. The 21-year-old Spaniard leapt into the arms of his victorious manager to celebrate what would be the only title win of his playing career.

Twenty-one years on, Arteta is targeting his first title in management. His Arsenal team lead the way going into the penultimate weekend of the English Premier League season but they need Manchester City, a point behind with a game in hand, to slip up. City are at Fulham today. Arsenal go to Old Trafford tomorrow before finishing their campaign next Sunday against another of Arteta’s former teams, Everton.

McLeish is hoping the former Rangers midfielder can complete an amazing title double.

‘Wow, yeah, absolutely, it’s an incredible story and I’ve watched it unfolding at Arsenal from being a player there to becoming the manager. He’s created a brilliant team.

‘Declan Rice has made a crucial difference. He’s probably an even better No 6 than Mikel was himself. A monster of a player. So I’ve followed his managerial career as assistant manager to (Pep) Guardiola (at Manchester City) and then seeing him go out on his own. He’s built a great side and they’re so good to watch.’

The Arsenal gaffer will have to be on his best behaviour at Manchester United tomorrow. His touchline tantrums have him one more yellow card away from a suspension which would mean him watching the Everton game from the stand. McLeish says animated Arteta sometimes allows the passion he has for football to spill over.

‘We certainly saw him waving his hands about when he scored that clincher against Dunfermline and we now see an extension of that in his managerial career,’ says McLeish. ‘He’s very emotional and, as you said, very passionate. That was maybe a precursor to how he’d turn out, that penalty at Ibrox.’

Arteta, 20 at the time, was McLeish’s first signing at Rangers in March 2002, although he initially knew nothing about him.

‘He wasn’t in my wee black book. I didn’t know Mikel,’ he admits. ‘It was David Murray (the former Rangers owner) who told me we may have to let someone go because we’ve got this option on a young player at Barcelona.

‘Dick (Advocaat, his predecessor as manager) had watched him play. He’d been loaned out to PSG and was going to cost £6million. And I thought ooft, here we go. So I’m talking to Dick and (coaches) Andy Watson and Jan Wouters, saying if we don’t go for him and he turns out to be a superstar we’ll get hammered further down the line. I had that vision in my head and just to keep it professional I told Andy to go and have another look at him in a game. David had said you don’t need to take him but if you do we’ll pay £6m for him and we’ll have to sell one of the strikers.

‘After watching Mikel, Andy told me was a good player, good feet, he was nimble, very quick but the problem was he was playing No 6 for PSG, taking the ball from the keeper and starting things off, and we had one of the best in Europe in that position in Barry. So where was I going to fit Arteta in? He was lively and skilful and I knew he’d connect well with the likes of Ronald de Boer, who’d been at Barcelona, Michael Mols and (Claudio) Caniggia. So he ended up slotting in well on the left side of a three-man midfield with Fergie in the middle. Arteta was terrific.

‘He had great confidence, great belief in himself, he scored on his Old Firm debut. And obviously he was helped by the quality of player he had around him. If you’re asking me if I saw Mikel eventually going on to become an English Premier League manager, I can’t honestly say that I saw that. He was quiet but there’s no doubt he interacted well in the dressing room.

‘His voice was probably heard more when he went back to Spain, to Real Sociedad, when he left Rangers. Then he went to Everton and Davie Moyes installed him as their No 6 which was his start-out position. He continued in that role at Arsenal. He would’ve taken a lot from his time at Rangers.’

It’s clearly a special memory for McLeish. The rise and rise of Arteta and the integral part he played in one of the most tension-packed days in Scottish football history.

He laughs: ‘To clinch that title against a fantastic Celtic team was really special. It just showed how fantastic we were.

‘I remember Henrik Larsson saying at the end of that season that Celtic would be in the top four of the Premier League in England. So that made me think we would finish a place above them because we won the league. That was an amazing comment but these guys were at a tremendous level.

‘I could go through every player in our team. And Mikel, coming in as a young kid and interacting with all these guys. That must have played a big part in his development and where he’s got to now.’